Israel keeps pressure on Gaza City before offensive
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Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Netanyahu ignores pleas for calm and condemns Albanese, Australian protesters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waded further into Australian domestic politics, claiming Australia risked being engulfed in a 'tsunami of antisemitism', despite direct pleas for him to calm down from Australia's top Jewish community leaders. Netanyahu said pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Sydney or Melbourne should be 'counteracted' in a Sky News interview on Thursday. 'If you don't stop [attacks such as on the synagogue] when they're small, they get bigger and bigger and bigger, and ultimately, they consume your society,' he said. '[Protesters] should be defied by the leaders. And yet we see – not in America, I'm happy to say, because President Trump is standing strong – but in Europe, one country after another succumbing to them, condemning Israel that is fighting these monsters and is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties.' Netanyahu also has labelled the burning of a Melbourne synagogue last year as part of a 'tsunami of antisemitism'. Since Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1200 people, more than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the latest estimates from Gaza's health ministry. Netanyahu did not escalate his bitter personal attack on Albanese during the Sky interview beyond comments previewed earlier on Thursday in which he branded the Australian 'forever tarnished' by his plan to recognise a Palestinian state. Netanyahu was condemned this week by Jewish groups and conservative MPs for a scathing social media post on Tuesday night that called Albanese 'weak' and accused him of abandoning Israel and Australia's Jewish community.
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Netanyahu ignores pleas for calm and condemns Albanese, Australian protesters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waded further into Australian domestic politics, claiming Australia risked being engulfed in a 'tsunami of antisemitism', despite direct pleas for him to calm down from Australia's top Jewish community leaders. Netanyahu said pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Sydney or Melbourne should be 'counteracted' in a Sky News interview on Thursday. 'If you don't stop [attacks such as on the synagogue] when they're small, they get bigger and bigger and bigger, and ultimately, they consume your society,' he said. '[Protesters] should be defied by the leaders. And yet we see – not in America, I'm happy to say, because President Trump is standing strong – but in Europe, one country after another succumbing to them, condemning Israel that is fighting these monsters and is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties.' Netanyahu also has labelled the burning of a Melbourne synagogue last year as part of a 'tsunami of antisemitism'. Since Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1200 people, more than 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the latest estimates from Gaza's health ministry. Netanyahu did not escalate his bitter personal attack on Albanese during the Sky interview beyond comments previewed earlier on Thursday in which he branded the Australian 'forever tarnished' by his plan to recognise a Palestinian state. Netanyahu was condemned this week by Jewish groups and conservative MPs for a scathing social media post on Tuesday night that called Albanese 'weak' and accused him of abandoning Israel and Australia's Jewish community.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Netanyahu: Albanese's legacy ‘forever tarnished'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unleashed a scathing attack on Anthony Albanese, declaring the Prime Minister's legacy will forever be stained by weakness in the face of Hamas. In a fiery 16-minute interview with Sky News host Sharri Markson, Mr Netanyahu revealed the full extent of his anger at Labor's decision to recognise a Palestinian state, accusing Mr Albanese of empowering terrorists and betraying Jewish Australians. 'I'm sure he has a reputable record as a public servant, but I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of these Hamas terrorist monsters,' Mr Netanyahu said. 'When the worst terrorist organisation on earth, these savages who murdered women, raped them, beheaded men, burnt babies alive in front of their parents, took hundreds of hostages, when these people congratulate the Prime Minister of Australia, you know something is wrong.' The Israeli leader said Canberra's decision, alongside Britain, France and Canada and other countries, to support Palestinian recognition at the UN had only emboldened extremism. 'So when Prime Minister Albanese … says 'Oh we'll give them a Palestinian state,' they're actually rewarding terror,' Mr Netanyahu said. 'Last time I looked, Australia was part of the West … it's our common Judaeo-Christian civilisation. They want to tear it down and destroy it. 'It's appeasement. Pure and simple. He referenced Hitler pressuring democracies to force Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland in exchange for peace, only to 'immediately' start World War II. 'The worst war in the history of humanity, that claimed millions and millions of people, innocent people dead. Well, we're not gonna repeat that,' he said. The diplomatic feud has spiralled in recent days, with Israel revoking visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke cancelled the visa of Israeli MP Simcha Rothman. Mr Albanese has downplayed the attacks, telling reporters earlier this week that he treats leaders with 'respect' and does not take personal offence. 'I don't take these things personally … He has had similar things to say about other leaders,' Mr Albanese said. But Mr Burke was far more blunt in his response, saying, 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.' Speaking from his office in Jerusalem as Israeli forces massed around Gaza City, Mr Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with a complete takeover of the enclave, even if Hamas accepted a last-minute ceasefire proposal. 'We're gonna do that anyway. That there was never a question that we're not going to leave Hamas there,' he said. 'It's like leaving the SS in Germany … you clear out most of Germany, but you leave out Berlin with the SS and the Nazi core there.' Mr Netanyahu said the war could end immediately if Hamas surrendered and released the remaining hostages, but insisted Israel would not tolerate any Hamas stronghold. He said Israel would also never allow the creation of another Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, describing it as a direct threat to Israel's existence. 'We're not going to commit suicide and put another Palestinian state right next to our doorstep in Tel Aviv or in Jerusalem,' Mr Netanyahu said. 'It's a tiny country and they wanted us to put in the middle of this tiny country another Palestinian state, because we just had one, a de facto Palestinian state in Gaza. 'And what did the Palestinians do with it? They built it down into terror tunnels into for their terrorist monsters. 'They'll do it again, they will kidnap people, they'll rape the women, they'll take the hostages and they'll go to the extermination of Israel. That's their goal.' On accusations that Israel is starving civilians and committing genocide in Gaza, Mr Netanyahu said such claims were 'lies' comparable to medieval blood libels against Jews. 'Israel is starving Palestinian children? What lies?' Mr Netanyahu said. 'I mean, we brought in two million tons of food into Gaza since the beginning of the war. Hamas has been stealing this food and selling the remainder at exorbitant price.' He stressed that Israel had gone further than any army in history to warn civilians before military strikes. 'Israel is doing what no other army has done … the lengths that we go to protect the civilian population has been unheard of, yet Israel is being vilified, just as in the Middle Ages,' he said. Mr Netanyahu said Israel had gone to unprecedented lengths to avoid civilian casualties, sending 'millions and millions of text messages' urging Palestinians to leave areas where Hamas had embedded itself, but claimed many were prevented from escaping because Hamas 'shoots them if they try to get out of harm's way'. Warning to the west Mr Netanyahu drew parallels between today's Western leaders and the 'slumber of democracies' before World War II, warning that appeasement of militant Islam would endanger nations such as Australia. 'The Western leaders, including unfortunately in Australia, are … trying to feed the crocodile of militant Islam … The more you pour fuel into this anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-Western fire, the greater the fire will grow, it will consume you in the end,' he said. He also condemned violent pro-Palestinian rallies in Sydney and Melbourne, urging governments to 'defy' extremist slogans rather than yield to them. 'These people … should be counteracted, they should be opposed, and they should be defied by the leaders,' he said. Trump's support Mr Netanyahu also revealed he had the backing of US president Donald Trump, who he said regarded Australia's position on Palestinian statehood as 'irrelevant'. 'I think President Trump put it best, he says Hamas has to disappear from Gaza,' Mr Netanyahu said, adding that Mr Trump fully supported Israel's goal of eliminating Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza City. Anti-Semitism in Australia Tensions have been further inflamed by a spate of antisemitic attacks across Australia, with synagogues targeted and one subjected to an arson attempt. Mr Netanyahu said he was 'very dismayed' by the rise in anti-Semitic incidents on Australian streets, including the recent burning of a Melbourne synagogue. 'I've seen this tsunami of anti-Semitism, this racism, and this targeting of the innocents … these are horrible things, and you know, if you don't stop them when they're small, they get bigger and bigger and bigger and ultimately they consume your society,' he said. Warning that Western democracies were 'feeding the crocodile' of militant Islam, he urged leaders to show courage rather than bow to pressure. 'It's the weakness of democratic leaders who, at a time of testing, should stand up and show leadership. And leadership means standing up with the truth, standing up for your conviction, standing up for the right side of history and not for the wrong side,' he said. Australia's leading Jewish organisation has also stepped into the dispute, issuing a rare public rebuke of both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Albanese. In letters delivered this week, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) warned that the leaders' escalating 'war of words' was placing the Jewish community in a vulnerable position. The ECAJ described Mr Burke's remarks as 'incendiary and irresponsible', and criticised Mr Albanese's comments as 'excessive and gratuitously insulting', while condemning Mr Netanyahu's attacks on the Prime Minister as 'inflammatory and provocative'. 'The Australian Jewish community will not be left to deal with the fallout of a spat between two leaders who are playing to their respective domestic audiences,' The ECAJ said. In a private letter to Mr Albanese, revealed by Markson on Thursday night, Mr Netanyahu issued a stark warning: 'History will not forgive hesitation. It will honour action.' Despite the diplomatic rift, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would prevail in both the battlefield and propaganda war. 'I want to assure Australians that we will win,' he said. 'They may get away with pushing these lies against us, but we do not succumb on the battlefield. We roll back those who would exterminate us … and we'll secure the peace.' 'It's to free Gaza, free them from Hamas tyranny, free Israel and others from Hamas terrorism, give Gaza and Israel a different future, and I think we're close to doing it.'
